Spoke Pony Showdown

The annual Spoke Pony Showdown 3/6hr race was finally held at Landahl this weekend after being cancelled due to trail conditions two weekends ago. The course conditions were great and the temperature was in the upper 40s.

Cowtown had a good showing at the race:

Shad Schreiner took the overall 1st place in the 3 hour solo.
Rich Anderson and Randy Cartwright took 1st place in the 6 hour duo.
Tige Lamb finished 4th in the 6 hour solo, 30 -39 class.
Mike Classen finished 5th in the 40+ class for the 3 hour solo

Other team members competing:
Gerard Arantowicz - 3 hour solo
Gill Armstrong teamed up with her brother in the 6 hour duo
Ashley Blum - designated cameraman (due to his broken wrist)

Criterium 101

The girls of Punk Rock Cycling have come up with a cool info sheet about criteriums called Criterium 101. It covers the basics like what is a leadout, how do I earn a prime and why would I "take a flyer".

Download it here.

USAC Upgrade Requirement Changes

The upgrade requirements for road and CX have been changed significantly. Please check them out in the USA Cycling Rulebook, either hard copy or online. You can also access the upgrade requirements via the discipline-specific pages of the USA Cycling website. The essential differences compared to last year are as follows:

• There is now a tiered scale of points based on how many participants were in the race. In some cases, this will make it easier to upgrade, especially in classes with small fields, but it will take more races to do so as the points are fewer.
• If road races do not meet the distance requirement to be considered a road race, they may still be long enough to be considered a criterium or circuit race. In that case there is a different points table to use, but points would still be available.
• The parameters for upgrading from 4 to 3 on experience alone have been modified

The new policy on upgrades can be seen at http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USAC_rulebook.pdf

First Time Rider Discount at Lansing DAZE.

Perry Road Race Series Finale

The Perry Road race series is a wrap. Thanks to The Lantern Rouge and the Wheatland Cycling Team for bringing this fun series to us. And as always, thanks to all the USCF officals and volunteers that make these events possible.

Top Cow Town finishers of the day:

Shad Schreiner 1st Men's Cat 4
Tige Lamb 3rd Men's Cat 3

Congrats to the series champions:

• Cat 1/2 Men - Kris Tilford (Wheatland Cycling Team)
• Cat 3 Men - Brett Johnson (Bicycle Shack Racing)
• Cat 3 Women - Jennifer Herrell Rhoades ( KCOI Boulevard)
  
• Cat 4 Men - Shad Schreiner (Cow Town Cycling Team)
• Cat 4 Women - Jacqeline Denny (GP VeloTek)
• Cat 5 Men - Zach Dubas (KSU Cycling)
• Master 40+Men - Andy Lucas (360 Racing)
• Master 40+ Women - Glenda Taylor (Wheatland Cycling Team)
  
• Master 50+ Men - Dennis Weinbeck (Capps-Rebound)
• Master 60+ Men - Robert Brust (River City Racing Club)
  

Great pictures at Roger's House of Photo's

Last race and final series results at Kansas City Cross Results

Riders Down

Just as the weather is starting to improve and Spring is in the air, two local riders recently have been put on the disabled list due to injuries.

Roger Harrison had surgery to repair his ailing knee. From Roger "Due to the result of the surgery performed on the Lanterne Rouge this afternoon, the prognosis of a slow recovery will cause this Category Six rider to miss the start of the 2008 Tour De France. Local racers should be wary of any of his entries as he attempts to return to his elite status form by racing in the Kansas, and Missouri areas. The Lanterne Rouge's surgery, performed by the Veterans Administration, has proven the elite status of this hospital and their staff"

Cow Town Cycling's Ashley Blum was out training on the Landahl trails in preparation for the start of the 08' mountain bike racing season when he crashed on one of the many technical sections. A visit to the doctors office showed a broken bone in his wrist. When asked for a comment the only thing Ashly said was "Never try to keep up with Rich on Rim Job..."

We wish a speedy recovery to Roger Harrison and Ashley Blum.

Ride with the Muddy Devil

Round #1 of the Midwest Fat Tire Championship series was held on Sunday under some very muddy conditions. The weather here in the Kansas City area has not been very good to us mountain bikers as of late...

The annual Ride with the Devil race turned into a muddy mess. An alternate course was used to allow the race to proceed eventually...

Top Cow Town riders:

Gill Armstrong - 3rd Expert Women
Craig Myers-Arenth - 6th Sport 40-49

Some cool photos by Andrew Slatter are on his Flicker site.

Race results are up at www.midwestfattireseries.com

Schreiner Takes Another Win

Round #2 of the Dam Race was held today out at Perry Lake under 'much more pleasant' conditions. Roger Harrison and Adam Gatewood again put on a fine event. Joseph Schmaltz put in a great ride to win today's Men's Cat 1/2 division.

Cow Town had a strong showing thanks to Shad Schreiner as he won for the second week in a row. Chris Locke 'suffered like a dog' to take 8th in the Men's 3's and is looking forward to getting back into his element at the Spoke Pony.

Pictures at Roger's House of Photos.

Some early races results:

Joseph Schmaltz - 1st Men's 1/2
John Giles - 1st Men's 3
Shad Schreiner - 1st Men's 4

Complete race results.

Ride with the Devil a Go!

The Ride w/the Devil Mountain Bike race is this weekend out at Clinton Lake State Park. Currently the trails at Clinton are as expected a muddy mess, but plans are underway to layout an alternate course that uses grass lands, pavement, gravel and tree lines.

A group is meeting Saturday morning at the Corps of Engineers office (10:00 a.m.) to begin planning and working on the alternate course.

Barb Miller, co-promoter, is still looking for volunteers. If you can help contact her at Cellobabeone@aol.com 573.424.1676

Local Training Race Series' Begin

Looks like good turnouts for the Spring Fling and Perry Lake road events. At both events wind was a deciding factor.

Congrats to our own Shad Schreiner for winning round #1 of That Dam Race.

Here are Roger's pictures from Perry Lake Series 1. -

Spring Fling results HERE.

Perry Lake RR (That Dam Race) result HERE.